What an enchanting performance. And no, we’re not talking about JK Rowling’s
rare public appearance in the Royal Box.

In his first outing at Wimbledon 2012, Andy Murrayshowed himself to be a genuine contender for this title, eviscerating Nikolay Davydenko in what was arguably his most complete performance on Centre Court.

He lost only six games on his way to a 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 win that will send vibrations through the rest of the field. And he left us a little mystery too, pointing an index finger at the sky as he came off the court.

“It’s something for me and the guys that I work with,” was all Murray would say afterwards. “I don’t really want to go into too much detail because I’ll end up getting asked about it every single day.” Murray’s total mastery of the Centre Court arena belied the gloomy mood of his Wimbledon build-up, preoccupied as it was with his back problems and indifferent results through the clay-court season.

In the light of his precarious recent form, this match had all the makings of a potential mantrap. Not only had Murray lost his three grass-court matches so far this season, but Davydenko — a former world No 3 — was a hell of a talent to come up against in the first round.

Murray has had his nervous moments at the start of tournaments, but as soon as he walked out on Tuesday — receiving a rousing reception from the Centre Court crowd — he was commanding the stage like the proud British figurehead he has the ability to be.

He had Davydenko on a string, shuttling left and right in a vain attempt to match Murray’s rhythm and poise. And he did it with two key weapons: the slice backhand, which he had honed extensively on the practice court, and the booming cross-court forehand.

“Since Queen’s I’ve been itching to get going and I’m glad to get out of the blocks quickly,” Murray said. “I was hitting the ball very cleanly from the beginning and I hit my slice very well, which is important against Davydenko. “I settle into matches a bit quicker than I used to,” he added. “The last couple of weeks have been hard. I’ve been desperate to get going because there’s so much talk. It’s never easy playing in the first round at Wimbledon, but it was a good start.”

Blown away in just 92 minutes, Davydenko might reflect on his confident words on the eve of the match, when he suggested his opponent was not aggressive enough and would not hit many winners. In fact, the final tally showed 27 winners for Murray and just six unforced errors — a statistic that not even the “Big Three” could match in this first round.

These are early days, of course, and it would be unwise to read too much into one performance. But there is no doubt that this was Murray’s strongest showing since his classic five-hour semi-final against Novak Djokovic in Australia.

If that match was hailed as a breakthrough at the time, Murray proved unable to maintain the same high standard through the spring and early summer. But then the ATP Tour moves into clay-court mode in April and May — and that has always been his least favourite surface.

Grand slams have become Murray’s natural environment, the place where he comes into his own. For all the carping about his record in finals and semi-finals, you have to go back eight tournaments to find the last time he lost a five-set match that he was expected to win. (Against Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth round of the 2010 US Open.)

Murray is a hardened campaigner now, and he knows when he needs to produce his best self. No sooner have the broadcasting trucks rolled into place, and Garry Richardson taken up his position in the BBC interview room, than he pulls on his game face and even tries to smile for the camera.

Psychology is all-important to any sport, as even Rowling appreciates. One of her books features a scene where a young wizard pulls off a blinding performance on the quidditch field because he believes — mistakenly, as it happens — that he has been blessed by a good-luck charm.

For Murray, the arrival of Ivan Lendl as his coach has had a similarly confidence-boosting effect. (Even if it wasn’t always so easy to spot when they were in different parts of the world before the French Open.)

The presence of such a legend in the players’ box has clearly stilled some of the internal dialogues that used to rage away inside his head. His body language here, often so suspect, was as strong as it has ever been. He stood with his shoulders back and his chest out.

The message he sent to Davydenko said: “This is my territory, and you won’t be staying here for long.” It was a magical transformation from the man who grumbled and mooched his way around Queen’s a fortnight ago, looking like a schoolboy who has been sent to bed early. So magical, in fact, that Harry Potter fans must have wondered whether Rowling had slipped him one of her Polyjuice Potions.